Ariz. Commissioner Threatens To Cut L.A.’s Electricity Over Boycotts

Yesterday, Arizona Corporation Commissioner Gary Pierce challenged the city of Los Angeles and its mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, to put their money where their mouths are by ending their purchases of electrical power generated in Arizona. In a letter exclusively provided to Hot Air, Pierce questioned how a city-wide boycott of Arizona would work while LA continues to light the city with Arizona electrons. In response, Villaraigosa bravely … ducked the question entirely:

Mayor Villaraigosa is in Washington D.C., meeting with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, but his deputy chief of staff issued the following statement: “The mayor stands strongly behind the city council and he will not respond to threats from the state that has isolated itself from an America that values freedom, liberty and basic civil rights.”

But Pierce wasn’t threatening anything. The ACC doesn’t have the authority to cut Los Angeles off from Arizona power, although it has enough influence with utilities in the state to have them rethinking their sales policy.